The Online Railbird Report, Vol. 20: The Mid-Year Report

Continued heavy live cash-game action at the Bellagio and the five-day long $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker resulted in a mild week when it came to the high-stakes online poker games. Players such as Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies logged less than a thousand hands apiece online. Still, familiar faces Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro, Ted “profbackwards” Forrest and Di “Urindanger” Dang dominated this week’s action, all posting six-figure wins over the last seven days.

Less is More for “durrrr”?

Could fewer, shorter sessions be the answer for “durrrr”? Last week, Tom Dwan played only a few hundred hands and finished almost a half-million to the good. This week, he put in only eight sessions totaling less than 600 hands and it translated into another $821,000 in winnings. Once over $4 million in the hole from online play in 2009, Dwan finished out the first half of the year with over $1.5 million in profit. The bulk of Dwan’s earnings this week came from a frenetic two-table session of heads-up $500/1,000 pot-limit Omaha against Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies. By the end of the 200-hand match, Dwan had close to $1.3 million spread across both tables, finishing with half a million dollars in profit. “Durrrr” simply crushed Sahmies in this particular session, winning 11 of the 15 largest pots of the night — three of them worth more than $200,000 and three others topping out at over $350,000.

In one of the aforementioned pots worth more than a Rolls Royce, Dwan opened the action with a raise to $3,000. Sahamies popped it to $9,000 and Dwan called. Sahamies fired at the flop for $18,000 and Dwan smooth-called. The turn came the and Sahamies fired another bullet for $45,000. Again, Dwan called and they went to the river which fell the . Sahamies triple-barreled it for $121,000 and Dwan called. Ziigmund had complete air with while Dwan flopped a flush with and took down the $386,000 pot.

Clearly steaming from the loss, Sahamies got more than a little spicy in the chat box as he quit the game:

After booking $193,000 in winnings last week, Ted “profbackwards” Forrest added another $177,000 to the till this week, playing several solid sessions of both full ring and heads-up limit poker. In the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning, Forrest joined Josh Arieh, Erick Lindgren, “Gagrin,” “NEKOTYAN,” and “-DONKEY1965-“ in the $500/1,000 H.E.R.O.S. action and raked in $60,000 in winnings. His biggest session of the week, however came against Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin in a stop-and-start heads-up match spread over several $1,000/2,000 and $2,000/4,000 Omaha hi/lo tables. Over the course of 300 hands, Forrest departed the tables with a $148,000 win.

One of the bigger confrontations the two had that night came on the $2,000/4,000 “Patrik” table. Griffin opened for a raise, Forrest three-bet and Griffin called. Forrest led out at the flop and Griffin called. The turn came the and Forrest fired again. Griffin made the call and they went to the river, which fell the . Forrest bet and Griffin called. Forrest showed , flopping the nut low and backing into top two pair for high to scoop the $32,000 pot.

Van “Sirens” Marcus Takes $115,000 Off DIN_FRU in Omaha Hi/Lo

The identity of “DIN_FRU” (translation: “your wife” in Swedish) has not been confirmed, though rumors have begun to circulate regarding Erik Sagstrom, who dominated heads-up high-stakes limit hold’em games back in 2004 and 2005. It’s also interesting to note that DIN_FRU didn’t pop up at any of the tables we tracked between June 26 and June 30 — the five days of the WSOP’s $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event where Sagstrom finished third. Hmmmm…

DIN_FRU took on Van “Sirens” Marcus at heads-up Omaha Hi/Lo on Thursday evening and posted a $115,000 loss to the Australian pro over the course of three and a half hours and nearly 900 hands. In one of the more interesting hands of the match, DIN_FRU opened for a raise and Marcus smooth-called. The flop came down . Marcus checked to DIN_FRU who bet, Marcus raised and DIN_FRU called. The turn was the and Marcus led out. DIN_FRU called and they saw the river come down the . Marcus led out, DIN_FRU raised, Marcus three-bet and DIN_FRU called. Marcus turned up for a jack-high flush and a 8-7-4-2-A low to scoop and raked in the $24,000 pot.

Kelopuro Posts Wins vs. Hansen, Antonius

To say Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro has had a rough go of it in 2009 is to put it mildly. The Finn is down nearly $3 million for the first half of the year but managed to turn out a few solid wins this week to shrink that number down just a bit. In a three-hour heads-up match vs. Gus Hansen on Sunday night, Kelopuro booked a $358,000 win at $500/1,000 pot-limit Omaha. It truly was Sami’s night as he earned nine of the session’s ten largest pots, including this whopper.

Kelopuro opened for $3,000, Hansen three-bet to $9,000 and Kelopuro called. The flop came down and Hansen led out for $12,000. Kelopuro raised to $54,000, Hansen shoved for $82,993 and Kelopuro called the balance. It was Kelopuro’s two pair with up against Hansen’s pair of eights and a straight draw with . The turn gave Kelopuro some added outs with the for a flush draw and the on the river filled it, earning Kelopuro the $132,488 pot.

Kelopuro had another successful night at the online tables on Tuesday, taking on fellow Finn Patrik Antonius at $300/600 no-limit hold’em with a $100 ante. Two hours later, Kelopuro emerged with a $123,000 win. His largest single-hand haul of the night came in this $135,000 hand, where Hansen caught what he thought was a lucky turn card.

Antonius opened for $2,000 from the button and Kelopuro called. The flop was and Kelopuro led out for $3,000. Hansen called and they went to the turn, which came the . Kelopuro took the lead again, betting $7,200 and earned another call. The river was the and Kelopuro fired one last time for $19,800. Hansen came back with a raise to $84,000, attempting to set Kelopuro all in. Kelopuro called in a shot, revealing two red fours for a set. Hansen’s turned two pair with were up in flames and Kelopuro dragged the $135,394 pot.

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